Worker was pulled into the machinery
A Brampton recycling company and the employment agency that placed the worker it killed have been fined a combined $265,000 following a workplace fatality.
Nexcycle Industries Inc. and Connect Place Inc. each pleaded guilty in the Provincial Offences Court in Brampton. On June 9, 2026, Justice of the Peace Bradley Addison Cook fined Nexcycle Industries Inc. $250,000 and Connect Place Inc. $15,000, for a combined total of $265,000.
The court also imposed the 25 per cent victim fine surcharge required under the Provincial Offences Act on both fines. The surcharge is credited to a special provincial government fund that assists victims of crime.
Crown counsel David McCaskill prosecuted the case. The convictions were reported by the Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development as part of its regular disclosure of Occupational Health and Safety Act prosecutions.
The incident
The fatality occurred on Aug. 28, 2023, at a recycling plant located at 325 Orenda Road in Brampton, operated by Nexcycle Industries. The worker – a general labourer employed by employment agency Connect Place Inc. and placed at the Nexcycle site – was using a rake to clear debris from an unguarded conveyor system on a cardboard baling line.
The conveyor system consisted of return rollers and a conveyor belt used to compress cardboard for recycling. When the worker attempted to remove debris caught between the rollers and the belt, the rake and the worker were pulled into the machinery, resulting in fatal injuries.
Nexcycle Industries is located at 235 Wilkinson Road in Brampton. Connect Place Inc. is located at 1332 Khalsa Drive, Unit 8, in Mississauga.
Investigation findings
An investigation by the Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development found that, at the time of the incident, the gate leading to the underside of the conveyor on the cardboard baling line was unlocked. The baling line was operating and had not been locked out; investigators said it remains unclear whether the line was turned on by a worker or started automatically.
“Nexcycle Industries Inc. failed to ensure the conveyor was stopped and blocked during maintenance work as required by section 75 of Ontario Regulation 851/90 (Industrial Establishments) and Connect Place Inc. failed to ensure that the work area was free of debris as required by section 11(a)(iii) of the same Regulation, both contrary to section 25(1)(c) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act,” said the Ontario government.
